At the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, players are shown the initial board position 10 minutes before each standard and rapid game, and 5 minutes before each blitz game. During this time, players can analyze the position, even with the help of another player, as long as they don't use electronic devices. This pre-game analysis period helps players plan their opening strategies, unlike in traditional chess where the initial board setup is always the same.

The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam is a Chess960 tournament with a prize fund of 750,000 USD per tournament. Chess960 differs from standard chess in that the starting position of the pieces is randomized, with 960 possible variations. Therefore, players have to calculate from the very first move, instead of memorizing opening sequences of over 10 moves as in traditional chess.

In the lower bracket match in Las Vegas on the morning of 20/7, Hanoi time, Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa drew their two rapid games, leading to a blitz tie-break. After receiving the initial board position, the Indian number one player quickly sat down at a chessboard and began analyzing by himself.

Carlsen sleeps before the tie-break match with Praggnanandhaa at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel, Nevada, USA on 19/7/2025. Photo: Freestyle Chess/Lennart Ootes

Meanwhile, the camera showed Carlsen resting with his eyes closed on a sofa. He only sat down at the chessboard when the match began. The world number one won both blitz games against Praggnanandhaa and advanced to the next round, avenging his earlier loss to the 19-year-old in the group stage.

Since his unexpected elimination from the championship contention after the group stage, Carlsen has stated that he has nothing left to lose. The 34-year-old can only achieve a third-place finish at best, which would still be considered a failure for him. Carlsen always enters every tournament with the goal of winning, so he wasn't overly concerned about the remaining matches.

Despite this, Carlsen continued to win in the lower bracket, successively eliminating Vidit Gujrathi, Javokhir Sindarov, Praggnanandhaa, and Arjun Erigaisi to reach the third-place match against world number two Hikaru Nakamura. Third place carries a prize of 100,000 USD, while fourth place receives 60,000 USD.

The third-place match will begin at 1 a.m. on Monday, 21/7, Hanoi time. Twenty minutes later, the final match between Hans Niemann and Levon Aronian will commence. The champion will receive 200,000 USD, while the runner-up will receive 140,000 USD.

Xuan Binh